CODA AArmor Question

[tonyg]

I looked through CODA and discovered that there is nothing listed for Body Armor. Not even ancient forms of armor.

1) Will this be given a mention in the Narrator's Guide?

2) Does anyone have any info? Ir realize the NDA keeps most of the staff from commenting, but....


....the LOTR adventure game is based on CODA, and it must have something.

[Elemek]

I can think of a couple ways to handle armor. In most games, armor either raises your ability not to be hit (D&D armor), or absorbs the impact of the blows that do hit (almost everything else). It'd be easy enough for armor to give you a bonus to your defence, but a penalty to quickness reactions, but I tend to favor with the absorbtion method. That could be handled with a flat number from one to fifteen or more, which is deducted from the damage of all attacks of the appropriate type (energy armor won't work well against a bladed weapon, for instance, and kevlar won't protect you from phasers). Alternately, for those who want more die rolls, armor could have a variable absorbtion factor, allowing you do drop 1d6 from an enemies phaser fire.

Another thought occurs to me, one which would also let you simulate all those nasty aliens and possessed crewmembers who took phasers set to 16 and just missed a beat. Energy armor could have a rating from one (handy) to 16 (I can't believe you're allowing this in your game). The Phaser setting is reduced by the armor rating for determining the effect of damage. So when Counsiler T'Palo, the ships Vulcan therapist, is suddenly possessed by Mahatarpok, the Demon of Viltvodil VI, she not only gains the power to fling Klingon crewmembers across the room, but she has a resistance to phaser fire equal to 12. So even when the security team comes after her with Type IV Compression Phaser Rifles set to maximum setting (sixteen), she takes 1d6+3 points of damage. Anything less has a chance of stunning her, but did you ever see the monster of the week fall down when you stunned her? That's why they get really high Stamina reactions, too. And lots of hit points. I mean health.

[Erik Filean]

There's a reference to an armor bonus somewhere in the PG; I just can't find it right now. Essentially, it's "damage resistance," absorbing a certain number of points of damage. You're right, though, the PG gives us little to go on in developing, say, the security armor from the first couple of movies, or the armor that Klingon and Cardassian uniforms include.

[ImperialOne]

I don't know if the NG will show much for effects of armor... if the ICON precedent is followed, damage absorption is likely. However with themild exception of the force shield used in ICON, it is pretty ineffective versus energy weapons.
With the nature of Star Trek (deemphasizing regualr combat) as well as the CODA system's disinitegration (KILL) effect at levels 9 and greater, I doubt we'll see much in the way of a man-portable device that will stave off disintegration (otherwise, we would have seen this in the movies/shows).

Just my two cents.

Charles

[tonyg]

Oh, I'm pretty sure it exists in CODA.

I suspect that it will probably abosrd some damage, as in ICON.

I was just wondeing if anyone had some values for different armors. Klingon Warrior's uniforms, leather, mail, plate, etc.

I was hoping that someone with the LOTR adventure game might be able to shed some light.